Victoria enters 5 days lockdown as Delta strain cluster grows

Melbourne will go into 5 days state-wide  coronavirus lockdown tonight (Thursday)  in response to a growing coronavirus outbreak  as authorities work to contain two separate Delta strain outbreaks. This is the fifth coronavirus lockdown in Melbourne and its third lockdown this year , as health authorites work to contain two separate Delta strain clusters and a rapidly expanding list of exposure sites.

From 11.59pm, tonight (Thursday) millions of residents across the state will have just five reasons to leave the home - for essential food and supplies, caregiving, exercise, getting medical care, work and education and to go and get vaccinated.

This snap lockdown is set to last for five days until 11.59pm next Tuesday night. Unlike recent lockdowns, this one will apply to the entire state after cases were linked to the Greater Geelong area.

Two clusters grew by twelve cases in just 24 hours after being linked to a family in Hume who visited Coles Craigieburn, and the Sydney removalists who forced an apartment building into lockdown.

Victoria’s coronavirus testing commander Jeroen Weimar said authorities were rapidly working to mop up 16 cases linked to the two chains of transmission, with 75 exposure sites and more than 2000 close contacts.

“You will appreciate we're dealing with a very dynamic situation here, a very rapidly moving situation here. What we’ve got is two separate incursions into Victoria over the last three or four days, two chains of transmission, at least one is moving very actively and very aggressively across the state,” Mr Weimar said.

Victorian workers will be able to access federal income support – usually given after two weeks in lockdown – within five days.

Federal government sources have confirmed Victorian workers will be able to apply for the payments on day five of the lockdown, and payments will be made retrospectively.

The decision was made to reflect the cumulative impact of lockdowns of Victorians, who were in a lockdown to curb the spread of the Kappa outbreak just last month.